Sunday, 16 December 2012

Mage Wars

Introduction/Theme"Mage Wars" makes you feel like acting as a real magician. You (as a mighty mage) use a customized spell book to fight the hostile mage in a Battle Arena - until one of the two mages is finally slain and looses the game.

ComponentsThe game has been developed over five years, and you can see the efforts spent also when it comes to the high-quality components. The huge box is fully packed with a nice game board, a spellbook, status boards and lot of beautiful cards, markers and some dice. The great artwork adds a lot to the overall experience.

GameplayYou can choose a mage out of four different character classes (which - of course - have different strengths and weaknesses), available are the Wizard, the Priestess of Asyra, the Beastmaster of Straywood and the Warlock of the Assaxian Crown. You place them on the game board (= Arena), which has twelve different zones (square sections) for moving and summoning creatures. The core gameplay develops simultaneously, and is based on the different spells you chose to have in your spell book. Beside casting spells and summoning creatures, you also can attack your opponent - whereas attacks are resolved very simple and transparent with a die role and comparing some stats. The actual status is tracked on the well-arrangedstatus board, and the game ends when one of the two mages has been defeated.

ConclusionThe truly outstanding aspect of this game (especially in comparison to a lot of deck building games) is the fact, that you have the spells you chose (yes, all of them!), available any time during play. This offers a great depth of strategical and tactical gameplay, also a lot of variety is guaranteed. You definitely need some time get deeper into all the details, but it's time well spent - because then you can experience the complex possibilities, and more and more details of the endless strategic combinations become visible. Definitely one of the highlights of the year 2012!

From the publisher: Mage Wars is the customizable strategy game of dueling mages.
Players take on the role of powerful mages, stepping into the arena to
battle for supremacy. Mage Wars is a unique genre-breaking concept,
combining the best elements of customizable card games and tactical
miniature games.Players can play as a Wizard, Warlock, Beastmaster or Priestess; each
with their own unique strategies and style of play. The game is
fast-paced and exciting, with tough tactical decisions every turn.Players build their own custom spellbook, with over 300 spells to
choose from! The game is not collectible – players have equal access to
the same spells. There is no random card drawing - players choose
exactly which spells to cast, when they want to cast them! This allows
for an unprecedented level of rich strategy and tactics.Summon powerful creatures into the battle, hurl lightning bolts and
fireballs, adorn yourself with mighty weapons and armor, or lay a
network of hidden enchantments to take your foe by surprise. All of this
and more awaits you in the arena of Mage Wars! With subtle strategies
and diabolical surprises, the balance of power can shift each round,
keeping the game exciting and victory unpredictable.

Mage Wars highlights:

4 different mages, each with their own unique play style

Fully customizable – with 322 spells

Focus is on strategy, not random card drawing or collecting

Simultaneous play system keeps players actively involved and engaged at all times

Disclaimer

as mentioned above this blog is about personal reviews and recommendations for things and places we really liked. mainly about music, books, boardgames, films, comics, art and travel. thanks to the comanies which provided products for testing purposes.

therefor we reserve the right not to be responsible for the correctness, completeness or quality of the information provided. liability claims regarding damage caused by the use of any information provided, including any kind of information which is incomplete or incorrect, will therefore be rejected. we are not responsible for any contents linked or referred to from this blog. we intended not to use any copyrighted material for the publication or, if not possible, to indicate the copyright of the respective object.